7 Less Common Triggered Messages and Why We Love Them

Mike O'Brien

Mike O'Brien

Triggered messages are (or should be) a cornerstone of every email marketer’s strategy. Personalized marketing has been statistically proven to outperform generic batch-and-blast campaigns and sent in response to customers’ actions, triggered messages are inherently personalized.

There, we mostly stuck to the basics and outlined the most common, popular varieties: welcome and onboarding streams, cart and browse abandonment emails, post-purchase and re-engagement messages, and location-based triggers. However, there are countless other ways to deploy triggered messages. Here are six of them and the brands that do them well:

Wayfair: Back In Stock

Cart abandonment emails are among the most common triggered messages. But what about those items that you can’t add to your cart because they’re unavailable? Deploy back in stock messages, like Wayfair does. The customer has already expressed enough interest in this TV stand to try and buy it. Not letting them know when they can is a missed opportunity.

Betabrand: Happy Birthday

When you sign up for a brand’s list, there are two pieces of data in particular nearly all of them ask for: email address and birthday. The latter perfectly exemplifies proactive triggered messages. Everyone loves happy birthday wishes, especially when accompanied by a discount. We like the way Betabrand goes the time-bound discount route, increasing the odds that the customer will convert quickly.

Dollar Shave Club: Happy Anniversary

Another key date besides birthday is the anniversary. Zola keeps it on brand by wishing the customer a happy anniversary, though that’s not exactly a universal milestone. What everyone does have is a sign-up date. Dollar Shave Club says “Happy anniversary” with a discount for a mystery item (which is consistent with the customer’s previous activity).

Amazon: Moving Discount

People who just moved overindex on housewares, a fast-growing category for Amazon. Through a partnership with the United States Postal Service, several retailers offer coupons to movers. Amazon takes it one step further with this triggered message that lets the customer know the discount is ready and also recommends products to use it on.

Sephora: Points Reminder

The best customer is a loyal customer, which is not a problem for Sephora. According to two years worth of 1010data, 80% of Sephora customers won’t consider a competitor. Sephora helps maintain that loyalty by sending proactive triggered messages to remind Beauty Insiders about their point balances… and suggest ways to redeem them.

Airbnb: Pre-Travel Trigger

Airbnb sends emails like this, a blend of content and bookable experiences, to travelers shortly before their trips. One could argue that this is a post-purchase message… but it’s also a separate value-add in its own right. This email makes the traveler more excited about traveling, while also cementing Airbnb as a trusted resource for all things travel.

Fandango: Post-Event Trigger

Fandango is known for selling movie tickets and this unique triggered message serves to promote FandangoNOW, the company’s streaming platform. After this customer saw A Star Is Born, the company sent a promo code for a free digital copy. If they liked it, FandangoNOW likely just got a brand new subscriber.